A detachment of the INA had penetrated into India and planted the Indian
tricolour at Moirang in Manipur on 14 April, 1944.
If Kohima and Imphal had been captured, the way to Delhi would have been laid
open but it was not to be. Torrential rain disrupted supply lines forcing the
INA to withdraw to Rangoon, due to a shortage of food and medicine.
Another retreat became necessary when the tide of battle turned in favour of the
British.
When Japan conceded defeat, Netaji decided to seek the help of the Soviet Union.
Arrangements were made to fly him to Russian-occupied Manchuria and he boarded
the Japanese bomber plane that was to take him there on 17 August, 1945 at
Saigon, Vietnam. But apparently the plane never reached its destination. It was
reported to have crashed on the island of Formosa, killing all its occupants,
including Netaji.
The INA soldiers were captured by the victorious Anglo-American forces and
brought to India to stand trial.
To the amazement of the British, not only the civilian population but also their
owns sepoys and officers hailed the INA soldiers as patriots and raised money
for their defence.
Jawaharlal Nehru donned his lawyer's garb after a gap of fifteen years, to come
to the defence of the INA heroes in court. The public outcry against the trial
ultimately forced the government to call it off. It was the first time that the
British government had bowed down to public opinion in India.
That the people had lost all fear of the government became clear when in
February 1946, naval ratings in Bombay, Calcutta and Karachi rose in rebellion.
The immediate provocation for the naval mutiny was the bad food served to the
ratings. The mutineers also resented discrimination against Indians who had
served the empire loyally in the war. B.C. Dutt, a rating, scrawled 'Quit India'
on the HMIS Talwar for which he was promptly arrested. Processions were taken
out in Bombay expressing solidarity with the ratings. Strikes, hartals and riots
triggered off by the naval mutiny shook Bombay. National leaders intervened and
persuaded the ratings to surrender on the assurance that no punitive action
would be taken against them. Subsequently all the naval mutineers were
discharged from service.
By mid-1946, the British writ no longer ran in India. The countdown to
Independence had begun.